DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mertz et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0179127 “Mertz”) in view of Kalkbrenner (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0253557).
An imaging device (Figures 1 and 5) configured for simultaneous measurement of one or more properties of a sample at one or more sample depths (e.g. Paragraph [0007] “two or more layers”), the device comprising: a mirror (Md); a mirrored pinhole array (RP1-RP4) comprising one or more pinholes; a mirrored pinhole array cavity formed by an arrangement of the mirror and the mirrored pinhole array (Figure 5, space between Md and RP1-RP4), the mirrored pinhole array configured to focus at least some light from one or more sample planes within the mirrored pinhole array cavity (Paragraph [0008]); and a detector (D1-D4), the detector arranged with the at least one lens to receive at least some of the collected light.
In the Figure 1/Figure 5 embodiment, Mertz fails to disclose a lens arranged as proposed. Mertz, however, teaches alternative embodiments (Figures 2A, Figure 7, Figure 8) including a lens arranged to collect focused light from a slit array and the detector with lens as interchangeable with individual detectors arranged with the individual slits (Figure 7 “Array of line cameras, or frame camera” on drawing). Kalkbrenner additionally teaches lenses (Figure 1 elements 7, 17) arranged with a pinhole array (8) to collect focused light via at least one pinhole.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a lens as proposed to collect focused light from the pinhole array such that the detector receives at least some of the collected light. Mertz teaches a singular detected with lens arrangement as a functionally equivalent method of collecting light from the pinhole array (Figures 7, 8). Additionally, Kalkbrenner teaches suppression of unwanted noise via the arrangement of lenses and a filter between the pinhole array and detector (Kalkbrenner: Figure 1; Paragraph [0047]).
at least one lens, the at least one lens arranged with the mirrored pinhole array to collect at least some of the focused light from the one or more sample planes via at least one pinhole of the one or more pinholes;
Regarding claim 2, Mertz discloses the mirrored pinhole array is further configured to focus a substantial portion of the light from the one or more sample planes (Figures 1 and 5, in conjunction with lenses f1-f5).
Regarding claim 3, Mertz as modified by Kalkbrenner discloses the mirrored pinhole array is further configured such that the at least one pinhole of the one or more pinholes via which the at least some of the focused light from the one or more sample planes is communicated to the at least one lens is based on at least one of: a sample plane from which the light originated, or a magnification of the device (Mertz: Figures 1, 5).
Regarding claim 4, Mertz discloses the arrangement of the mirror and the mirrored pinhole array forms a confocal mirrored pinhole array cavity (Figure 5, by virtue of symmetry of light exiting pinholes, see arrangement of detectors).
Regarding claim 5, Mertz discloses the mirrored pinhole array is at least one of: a round mirrored pinhole array, or a rectangular mirrored pinhole array (Figure 5).
Regarding claim 6, Mertz discloses the one or more pinholes of the mirrored pinhole array are a first pinhole array disposed on a first location on the mirrored pinhole array, the device further comprising: at least a second pinhole array disposed on second position on the mirrored pinhole array (Figure 5, see pinholes associated with D1-D4).
Regarding claim 7, Mertz discloses an excitation beam generator (Laser 1/2), the excitation beam generator configured to provide one or more excitation beams for the one or more sample planes (Paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 9, Mertz discloses a tube lens (F1), the tube lens arranged with the mirrored pinhole array cavity such that the tube lens focuses the at least some light from the one or more sample planes into the mirrored pinhole array cavity (Figures 1, 5).
Regarding claim 10, Mertz discloses the imaging device is a microscope, a spectroscope, or an imaging scanner (Paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 11, Mertz discloses the mirrored pinhole array is configured such that a spacing of the one or more pinholes is at least one of: linear, or non-linear (Figure 5).
Regarding claim 12, Mertz discloses the mirrored pinhole array is configured such that a spacing between the one or more pinholes is a function of a product of a square of the device magnification before the pinholes and a spacing between the one or more sampling planes (Paragraph [0040]).
Regarding claim 13, Mertz discloses the mirrored pinhole array cavity is arranged such the at least some of the collected light corresponds to a passive axial sampling of the sample (Figures 1, 5, D1 corresponds to a passive axial sampling.
Regarding claim 14, Mertz discloses the one or more properties of the sample comprise at least one of: a reflectance, a Raman effect, a fluorescence, or a stochastic radiation, at least one of the one or more properties of the sample being used for a super-resolution of the one or more sample planes (e.g. fluorescence per Paragraph [0007]).
Regarding claim 15, Mertz discloses a method of simultaneously measuring of one or more properties of a sample at one or more sample depths with an imaging device, the imaging device comprising a mirror, a mirrored pinhole array comprising one or more pinholes, at least one lens, and a detector, the method comprising:
arranging the mirror (Md) and the mirrored pinhole array (RP1-RP4) to form a mirrored pinhole array cavity;
focusing at least some light from one or more sample planes within the mirrored pinhole array cavity (Paragraph [0008]);
arranging the mirrored pinhole array to collect at least some of the focused light from the one or more sample planes via at least one pinhole of the one or more pinholes (Figures 1, 5).
In the Figure 1/Figure 5 embodiment, Mertz fails to disclose a lens arranged as proposed. Mertz, however, teaches alternative embodiments (Figures 2A, Figure 7, Figure 8) including a lens arranged to collect focused light from a slit array and the detector with lens as interchangeable with individual detectors arranged with the individual slits (Figure 7 “Array of line cameras, or frame camera” on drawing). Kalkbrenner additionally teaches lenses (Figure 1 elements 7, 17) arranged with a pinhole array (8) to collect focused light via at least one pinhole.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a lens as proposed to collect focused light from the pinhole array such that the detector receives at least some of the collected light. Mertz teaches a singular detected with lens arrangement as a functionally equivalent method of collecting light from the pinhole array (Figures 7, 8). Additionally, Kalkbrenner teaches suppression of unwanted noise via the arrangement of lenses and a filter between the pinhole array and detector (Kalkbrenner: Figure 1; Paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 16, Mertz discloses configuring the mirrored pinhole array such that the at least one pinhole of the one or more pinholes via which the at least some of the focused light from the one or more sample planes is communicated to the at least one lens based on at least one of: a sample plane from which the light originated, or a magnification of the device (Paragraph [0007]).
Regarding claim 17, Mertz discloses arranging of the mirror and the mirrored pinhole array includes forming a confocal mirrored pinhole array cavity (Figure 5, by virtue of symmetry of light exiting pinholes, see arrangement of detectors).
Regarding claim 18, Mertz discloses the one or more pinholes of the mirrored pinhole array are a first pinhole array disposed on a first location on the mirrored pinhole array, the method further comprising: disposing at least a second pinhole array on second position on the mirrored pinhole array (Figure 5, see pinholes associated with D1-D4).
Regarding claim 19, Mertz discloses configuring the mirrored pinhole array such that a spacing between the one or more pinholes is based on a function of a product of a square of the device magnification before the pinholes and a spacing between the one or more sampling planes (Paragraph [0040]).
Regarding claim 20, Mertz discloses arranging a tube lens with the mirrored pinhole array cavity such that the tube lens focuses the at least some light from the one or more sample planes into the mirrored pinhole array cavity (f1; Figures 1 and 5).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mertz in view of Kalkbrenner and in further view of Miyazono et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0032069 “Miyazono”).
Regarding claim 8, Mertz fails to disclose the transmission grating placed as proposed. Miyazono, however, teaches an analogous microscope application (Figure 4) in which a transmission grating (1) is placed on a transmission side of a pinhole (8) and configured to separate the spectra of light communicated between the pinhole and the detector (Paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the transmission grating on a transmission side of the pinhole array in the Mertz device. One would have been motivated to use a transmission grating in the Mertz microscope to improve the brightness for fluorescence detection while maintaining light use efficiency (Miyazono: Paragraphs [0006]-[0008]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL H CALEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2286. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/MICHAEL H CALEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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